


'cause i’ve been away too long

by afropogue



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Family, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Mental Health Issues, Post-Canon, Trauma, Trauma Recovery, chad and ryan are nick’s parents, he pretty much tries to deal with the trauma of being possessed, kinda nick whump, my nick danforth-evans agenda never stops, this was gonna be a one shot but it’s gonna be continued later...sometime
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:34:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27581425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afropogue/pseuds/afropogue
Summary: the aftermath of caleb’s possession over nick. julie finds a way to drive caleb out of nick’s body, but even with the lack of a spirit inhabiting his body, nick still feels the lasting effects of the possession.
Relationships: Nick & Carrie Wilson, Nick & Julie (Julie and The Phantoms)
Comments: 15
Kudos: 58





	'cause i’ve been away too long

**Author's Note:**

> title from the song ‘where i belong’ by nico and vinz!

For the past few weeks Nick was simply a small fraction of his own body. His body had been possessed by a strange, wicked force, that wheeled around in his body like its personal vessel. Being possessed by....whatever he was possessed by, had shook him up more than he expected.

For weeks he’s been hiding away, standing in the corner of his body, watching from the sidelines as a stronger force completely took over his body, pursuing his agenda that Nick still didn’t quite understand. There were moments where he had some control over his body, where he could fight against the chains of the potent force. But his moments of freedom were usually short-lived, and the force would take over his body once again.

Thankfully Julie had somehow found out that he was possessed, which Nick later learned she discovered with the help of three ghosts, who happened to be the so-called ‘holograms’ in her band. Although it probably wasn’t too hard to figure out, considering Nick and his possessor were polar opposites and no matter how much the supernatural force inside of him tried to mimic him, traces of him still showed in the ‘new Nick.’

The whole situation was really bizarre and weird, especially finding out Julie’s band mates were ghosts. But he guesses it explained the lack of a functioning hologram system present when Julie and her band performed.

She had lured him to her garage studio and trapped him in some demon-trapping contraption, which one of the ghost boys had offhandedly mentioned was Julie’s little brother Carlos’s idea. Nick wonders if Julie’s whole family were secretly witches or something.

That is how he finds himself bounded to a chair by a tight, thick, rope, trying to get the-apparent demon man-out of his body. Julie is standing outside of the demon-trap circle, holding a thick leather-coated book, reading words in some strange language, which he guesses is Latin or some really old dead language. It sounds like she’s trying to exorcise the demon from out of his body.

He can hear the spirit talking to Julie. It’s his mouth moving, but he has no control whatsoever. He doesn’t know what he’s saying, but he doubts its any good.

However he can the spirit talking to him from the inside.

_Only useful when used._

_You could’ve been a fruitful part of my plan. It would’ve been your only accomplishment._

Nick squeezes his eyes shut.

Julie finishes the incantation, which causes the demon’s spirit to push out of his body, but not completely. It’s fighting hard against the force of the spell.

Nick groans as he tries to push the demon out of his mind and out of his body.

“Come on Nick you can fight this! Please, I know you’re strong, drive him out! Think of your family, your friends, don’t let Caleb take over your life!” He hears Julie’s pleading.

Nick can feel this ‘Caleb’ person trying to combat his resistance. And for a second, Nick thinks he’s doomed because Caleb is too powerful, and the demon’s inner monologue seeps into the back of Nick’s mind. He’s whispering bad nothings, telling him he’s worthless without being possessed, stating how everyone would love him more if he was overtook by a cooler, suave, sophisticated force such as him.

Nick breaks free of the ropes bounding him. He abruptly stands up, hands clinging on to the sides of his head with his hands. The chair he was sitting on falls back behind him. His eyes are squeezed shut as the cacophonous mixture of Julie and her ghost band friend’s encouragement and Caleb’s overbearing voice overwhelm his mind. Dying honestly sounds like it would be less painful compared to the excruciating pain he’s experiencing in that moment.

His mind is at war with itself. Or-well-his mind is at war with Caleb’s. 

_He’s lying Nick, don’t let him get to you. Push it out! Just push it out!_

Nick is mustering up all his willpower to aid the spell in pushing out Caleb’s spirit. _Is this what pregnancy feels like?_

Suddenly he hears Caleb groan in his head. 

_“What am I even doing trying to possess a stupid teen? My cover has been blown, you’re useless anyway. The Great Caleb Covington doesn’t need a weak teenage boy to succeed in his endeavors.”_ Nick hears him sneer. 

_“You’ll regret this.”_

Then suddenly Nick feels a beam of energy rupturing out of his mouth. It’s similar to how he felt when Caleb first entered his body, except this time it’s significantly more painful. He simultaneously screams while he feels Caleb’s energy leave his body.

Caleb finally exits his body. The impact of his departure is so strong that it makes Nick dizzy, causing him to drop to his knees on the ground. He places a hand on the ground in an attempt to steady him, but his hand trembles and he ends up leaning forward a little. One arm is wrapped around his chest as he breathes heavily.

“Nick!” Julie shouts, panicked, dropping the leather book and running over to his hunched figure.

She places a hand on his shoulder and back. “Are you okay?”

Nick doesn’t answer right away, still breathing heavily as he tries to recollect his breath (and his thoughts). He only manages to recollect one of those things to an extent.

“I...I-I-I’m fine.” Nick says a little breathlessly. He coughs a little. “O-or as fine as one can be after being possessed by a ghost-demon thing.”

Julie gives him a deeply sympathetic look, and even through his haze he can register how moist her eyes are, as if she’s on the verge of crying. “Oh Nick, I’m so sorry for all of this.” she sounds sincerely guilty, as if she fully believes this is all her fault.

Nick shakes his head. He knows Caleb has some personal vendetta against Julie and her band, but he _knows_ Julie, and he knows she would never deliberately hurt him. “It’s okay Julie. This isn’t your fault, it’s not like you knew he would possess me.”

“But he came after you because of me! He knew you were close to me and that I cared about you and took advantage of that! I indirectly hurt you.” The dejection and guilt in Julie’s voice breaks Nick’s heart. He hates seeing his friend cry, especially since it’s taken so long for Julie to garner her happiness after her mother died, and after she debuted with her ghost band she’s been in high spirits and he hates that he’s the reason for her being sad again and crying now.

Nick immediately pulls Julie into a hug, wrapping his arms around her. He ignores the layer of fatigue that still spreads over his body. She doesn’t hesitate to reciprocate the hug. “Hey Molina, listen to me. I’m not mad at you nor do I blame you for any of this. Besides, he’s gone now and that’s what matters right?” Nick tries to reassure her, rubbing her back soothingly.

Julie nods into his shoulder. They sit there on the ground, remaining in their hugging position. This isn’t how either of them envisioned their first hug to go, but they both needed the comfort in that moment. Nick focuses on consoling Julie, which is also a small attempt at ignoring the muddled mess in his mind.

Julie sniffles, pulling away. “I’m sorry, I should be the one comforting you.”

Nick shakes his head, forcing the smallest of smiles on his face. “Stop apologizing, I told you it’s cool. And thanks to you he isn’t possessing me anymore.”

Julie still looks guilty and unconvinced of his words. She looks up at him through wet lashes. “Really?”

“I swear.” 

Julie gives him a half-hearted tiny close-lipped smile, which Nick mimes as well. 

“So....he’s gone now?” Another voice asks, breaking Nick and Julie’s moment. That’s when Nick remembers Julie’s ghost band. He looks up and sees them standing behind Julie, worried looks on their faces.

“I’m pretty sure he is.” Julie replies.

“This is crazy, why is Caleb still so obsessed with us? Why does he want us in his Hollywood Ghost Club band so bad? Surely we aren’t the only immortal dead ghost band out here, right?” The one with the dark hair and red flannel asks, scratching his head.

“Hollywood Ghost Club band?” Nick asks, raising his eyebrows. Did he even want to know what that was?

The band and Julie do a double take, staring at him in surprise.

“Wait, you can still see us?” The blonde one with the fanny pack and pink hoodie asks him.

Nick nods. He doesn’t know why he can see the ghost boys, although he believes that being possessed by a demon-ghost being probably played a role in this newfound ability.

“Wow....well that was weird.” The flannel guy states in reference to...well...everything that just happened. Everyone makes noises of agreement.

Julie makes a move to stand up. Nick just stares at her, possessing zero desire to move at all. He has the strange desire to just sit there on there floor and stare at nothing for hours.

But Julie lends out her hand, smiling at him. He stares at her hand for a moment before taking it, allowing her to help lift him up. He staggers a bit, still physically buzzed. He places a hand on Julie’s shoulder to steady him, and Julie helps him gain his balance as well.

Suddenly Julie’s dad enters the garage, looking eyebrows furrowed. “What is all this racket? I thought I heard a scream?” He looks around the garage. “And what is all this mess?”

Nick glances around the garage as well. There are scattered papers and objects strewn all over the place, probably due to the intensity of the exorcism. He hadn’t noticed before how messy the place had become. Probably because he was too busy fighting a demon out of him.

Mr. Molina squints suspiciously at Julie and Nick’s position. “Nick? I thought you left a while ago.”

Julie and Nick share a look before Julie detaches herself from Nick. Nick’s body still isn’t exactly stable, but he manages to stand somewhat normally on his own.

“O-oh um yeah sorry Nick and I were just uh...” she trails off and looks to Nick for help and he opens his mouth to say something but he isn’t sure how to explain their previous position or the mess in the garage. He couldn’t exactly say _’sorry I just recently became free of demon possession and it took such a huge toll on my body that I can barely stand properly.’_

“We were practicing! Dance. We were practicing dance! For our dance class. And the noise you heard was music.” Julie says. Then she leans over and shields half her mouth with her hand, half heartedly acting as if she’s telling a secret and loudly whispers, “Nick is super clumsy. Poor thing almost fell for one of our moves.” Julie says, forcing out a small laugh.

Mr. Molina nods slowly, as if he doesn’t really buy the excuse but he has no other reason to deem it a lie so he just accepts it.

“Okay well-why so late? It’s,” Ray looks down at his watch, “Almost 10 pm. You both should be in bed!”

“Sorry dad, we were studying and hanging out and decided to practice our dancing some more. We lost track of time.” Julie says, and Nick applauds her lying skills.

Ray sighs. “Alright, but next time tell me if you have a friend over this late. Nick, do you need a ride home?”

 _Ah right home!_ His dads were probably worried sick.

“If you don’t mind Mr. Molina.” Nick replies sheepishly.

Ray simply nods at him. “Alright, you go on and gather your things. I’ll be waiting in the car.” Then he turns to Julie with a stern look. “And you young lady, clean up all of this and prepare for bed.”

Ray spots the overturned chair in demon trap circle and raises his eyebrows at it, sending a questioning look to Julie.

“Oh that’s just some weird ghost thingie Carlos made. Pfft can you believe he still thinks they exist?” Julie answers his silent question. She and Nick pointedly ignore the _“Hey! Rude.”_ from one of the ghost boys, which Nick presumes is from the one in the red flannel.

Mr. Molina simply does his slow, slightly suspicious nod, but doesn’t ask anymore questions before he leaves the garage.

Julie and Nick let out sighs of relief.

“Great lying skills.” Nick compliments.

“Thanks. I’ve had a lot of practice.” Julie replies. Nick huffs out a laugh, but even that seems forced in his mind. Everything he does feels forced all of a sudden.

Then Julie’s expression turns serious. “Are you sure you’ll be okay?”

She’s obviously referring to what had transpired less than 15 minutes ago. The incident was still fresh in Nick’s mind, and he was still trying to wrap his head around everything he’s gone through. A cold feeling settles in his through his body, and he knows it isn’t from the temperature.

But he doesn’t need to worry Julie or make her feel even guiltier than she already does, so he lies, “Yeah. Still a bit shaken up, but I’ll be fine.” 

_Will he though?_

Julie nods before bringing him into another hug. She wraps her arms tight around him. “I’m glad you’re okay. Once again I’m so sorry you went through this. Don’t be afraid to text me if it’s still bothering you, or if anything else happens.” 

Nick hugs her back. He won’t lie, Julie is a great hugger. “Thanks Molina. And once again, stop apologizing! I promise it’s all good.” Nick says. He’s mostly trying to convince himself of the last sentence, but Julie could use the sentiment too.

Nick pulls away first this time. Julie smiles at him. “See you at school Nick.”

“See you at school Molina.” Nick says. He remembers the boys are there as well and he nods at them. “Bye Julie’s ghost band.”

The boys wave goodbye at him, and Nick turns to leave the garage. He hadn’t brought any belongings (since Caleb was in control of him at the time and didn’t feel the need to bring anything). Which unfortunately also meant he didn’t have his phone and he couldn’t text his dads.

He hopes they won’t be too mad. He feels bad that he had just left with no warning and didn’t tell them beforehand when he’d be back.

However, that’s not the only thing on his mind as he sits in the passenger seat of Mr. Molina’s car.

The mass of everything that’s happened weighs down on him, pressing into his chest and constricting him of any positive emotions. He’s relieved that Caleb isn’t controlling his body anymore, but everything still feels wrong. He feels violated, like someone has scanned his mind and seen everything, and not only just that, but every physical aspect of his body. And there’s no way he can get justice for what Caleb has done to him, so he feels powerless and used. It’s a gross feeling, to say the least.

“You okay Nick?”

Nick blinks. “Hmm?”

“You seem a little on edge. You alright there?”

“O-oh yeah of course. Just a little tired.”

Mr. Molina hums and nods. “I feel you on that. It’s been a long day for both of us, huh?”

“Yeah....” Nick says meekly, not bothering to ask the man to elaborate on his day. He doesn’t have to, as Ray starts retelling snippets of his day on his own accord.

Nick tries to chime in with polite one-word reactions at appropriate times, so it seems like he’s invested in what Mr. Molina is saying despite the fact that having conversation is the last thing he wants to do. He usually likes listening to Mr. Molina, but he can’t for the life of him find it in him to care about anything except the weird post-possession daze he’s found himself trapped in.

That’s why he’s relieved when they finally arrive in the familiar setting of his neighborhood. When he spots his house, he tells Mr. Molina to stop in front of it.

He opens the car door and steps out. He bids Mr. Molina a farewell and thanks for the ride, before jogging up to his house. He lifts a hand up to the door bell, pausing hesitantly, before pressing the button.

He steps back and waits for someone to answer the door. He rocks on the balls of his feet, hands buried deep in his pockets. He hasn’t been im control of his body for almost a week now, which meant he technically hasn’t been with his parents as himself in that time. He wasn’t sure what Caleb had done or said in his place, and he could only prepare himself for the worst.

The door opens, and the person standing at the door is none other than his dad. Or, one of his dads. 

His dad’s eyes widen when he realizes who it is. “Nick? Where have you been? You haven’t texted us all day and I’ve been worried sick-“

Nick is so happy to see his father as himself that he throws himself at his dad, burying his head in his chest. 

His dad is a bit taken aback by the sudden impact, but he quickly wraps his arms around his son. 

“I missed you.” Nick croaks, tears lidding his eyes.

“Oh-I mean I missed you too but you were only gone for a couple hours, did something happen?” His dad asks, pulling away slightly to scan Nick’s face.

His dad is getting worried now. What had happened to make Nick so emotional? He rarely got like this unless it was for specific reason. “Nick....baby are you okay?” He questions, gently wiping a tear with his thumb from his son’s face.

_No he’s not. He doesn’t know if he ever will be._

But he can’t exactly explain what was happened to him without sounding crazy, so he simply keeps his head buried in his dad’s chest, letting out all the emotions he had kept contained at Julie’s garage.

His dad is probably still so confused, but he doesn’t ask Nick anymore questions, and focuses on consoling him.

“Ryan? Who is it why do I hear crying-“ the voice of his other dad, Chad, appears at the his side.

“Nick.” Chad whispers, staring at his husband and son with concern. He gives Ryan a questioning look. Ryan just shrugs lightly, a silent reply that conveys he’s just as bewildered.

Nick lifts his head up to look at his other dad, face wet from tears. He moves over to Chad, repeating the same thing he did with Ryan, hugging him tightly and burying his face in his chest.

Chad is still confused by what’s wrong, but he slowly wraps his arms around the boy, squeezing him tightly. 

Nick knows the random crying and display of affection looks odd to his parents, but then again, they were probably used to him acting odd lately, thanks to Caleb being in control of his body for a period of time. Who knows what that monster did while inhabiting Nick’s body.

_He’s been so close yet so far away._

After a while, Nick finally pulls away. His crying has died down, reducing to sniffles.

He feels like a baby, _a fucking child._ Caleb would be taunting him if he were there right now. He can almost hear him.

“What happened?” Chad asks. “Who do I need to beat up?”

Nick pulls away, averting his eyes. He wipes his face with his sleeve. “Nothing. Sorry it’s uh-nothing.”

“It doesn’t seem like nothing.” Chad says sternly, fixing him with an expectant look. Ryan’s face has a similar expression.

“Just had a bad day today.” _More like a bad couple of weeks._

Ryan and Chad share a look.

“Nick, you know you can tell us right.” Ryan says.

“It’s fine. It’s-It’s stupid.”

Ryan frowns. “Nick-“

“I’m tired. I’m gonna go change and go to sleep.” Nick says curtly, stepping back further away from his dads. He doesn’t wait for them to respond, as he’s already turned around and makes his way to his bedroom. 

“Nick wait-“ Ryan reaches out a hand to Nick, making a move to follow him, but his husband places a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

“He’ll talk to us when he’s ready.” Chad assures him.

Ryan sighs. He doesn’t follow Nick, but his concern doesn’t waver.

Nick closes the door shut behind him once he makes his way into his bedroom. He leans his back against the door, sliding his body down until he’s sitting on the floor.

A persistent chill rattles his bones. He can’t stop thinking about what happened. About _him_.

He knows his dads are probably worried, but he has no idea how to explain what he’s gone through the past couple weeks.

_I’ll always be a part of you._

_I’m always watching._

The voices.

Nick squeezes his eyes shut placing his head in his hands.

“Stop!” Nick shouts, although not too loud as to alarm his parents.

His mind is quiet for a second. A short, blissful second. And then he can hear the faintest of laughter. Snarky laughter, aimed at his expense.

Needless to say, Nick doesn’t get any sleep that night.

**Author's Note:**

> so i was thinking about the last episode of the show when nick got possessed by caleb, and there aren’t a lot of nick-centric fics so i wanted to attempt one, and knowing me i just had to bring on the angst.
> 
> i hope this turned out well! i never really wrote anything like this before so im kinda trying something new. comments and kudos are appreciated, please tell me what you think about this piece down below in the comments because i’m thinking of turning this into a series or making this a chaptered fic.


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